The Burnout, 339 S Ashley

339 S Ashley, January 1977

My part of the story of this house's last thirty years will be told here, as best I can.

This in response to the Ann Arbor Observer article which made my finances, and
particularly my tax history, public in a somewhat confused manner, and partly
because Destiny-98 uses these "facts" to denigrate my ability to handle my
finances, repeatedly asserting (in e-mails and conversations with myself and my
attorney, Scott Munzel) that this somehow justifies their taking and retaining my
home.

The impression about myself the Observer article left in the community is pretty
well captured in this quote about Bear-Stearns' recent self destruction. Quoting the
New York Times, 03-15-08, "F.D.R.’s Safety Net Gets a Big Stretch" :

<<Mr. Schwartz, Bear’s chief, says his firm remains solvent. But such assurances
are seldom credited during panics. As Walter Bagehot, the British financial
journalist, wrote in “Lombard Street,” a 19th-century book on the monetary system,
“Every banker knows that if he has to prove that he is worthy of credit, however
good may be his arguments, in fact his credit is gone>>

Much of the willingness of people to help financially has disappeared. I can't blame
people for that...it was only natural.

It bears (deliberate) saying here that Bear-Stearns was involved in the tax lien
business. One of their Senior Managing Directors, John Garzone, is currently the
president of the National Tax Lien Association, of which Douglas Q Gale is a
member and was the Treasurer. Needless to say, Mr Garzone no longer has a
position at Bear-Stearns.

Synopsis:

In 1976 I ran a small building/remodeling company and took on the job of converting
a large house (behind what was then the downtown Elk's Club) into three upper
story apartments and office suites on the first floor.

The house had been used as a rooming house and the conversion was a major
project involving a complete redesign of the interior layout to incorporate kitchens
and bathrooms for the projected apartments.

The night before the framing inspection for the second and third (attic) floors was
scheduled, the steam boiler in the basement ran dry, overheated and started a fire.
The fire ran up through the building, going almost out of control when it reached
the open framing of the second and third floors...

Literally overnight, we went from working on a job reasonably large for our
resources, to one easily four, five times bigger. With perfect hindsight, I now know I
should not have taken on the task of re-building the house. I grossly
underestimated the cost, the consequent debacle leading to the cascade of bills,
lawsuits and payroll tax debts that I have had to struggle to bring under control for
decades.

It became a game of financial whack-a-mole, never successful mostly for my own
lack of experience or the advice of a mentor. Eventually, it poisoned all my
finances, while I held on, waiting until the Federal tax liens tolled.

All of the financial complexities of my life, the most visible being my various tax
problems focused on in the Observer article, can all be traced back to this fire...

Link to location of 339 S Ashley and it's
present location using Google Earth
(you must be on line and have Google Earth
installed. Look in the Temporary Places
folder of the Places window after the file and
program has opened.)

Photos and more history:

(in process)
(click photos to enlarge)